What you will learn
- Good and bad ways for students to use AI
- What CXC says about AI in SBAs
- How teachers in Guyana are already being trained to use AI
- Where to study AI further in Guyana
The big question in every classroom
In his World Teachers' Day message in October 2026, President Ali said AI can help teachers prepare lessons and adapt teaching to each student, but that it cannot replace a teacher's judgement and care. He also said teachers now have to work out whether a student's work is really the student's own, and that the answer is to teach young people to use technology responsibly, not to reject it (DPI, 5 Oct 2026).
That is the balance this lesson is about: use AI to learn more, not to think less.
For students: the good, the bad and the risky
Good uses
- Explain it another way. "Explain photosynthesis like I am in Grade 6, using a rice field as the example."
- Quiz yourself. "Give me ten practice questions on simultaneous equations, then mark my answers."
- Plan your study. "Make a six-week revision timetable for CSEC Maths and English, two hours a day, Saturdays off."
- Check your writing. "Point out grammar mistakes in my paragraph but do not rewrite it for me."
- Brainstorm. "Give me five possible topics for a Geography SBA about my community on the West Coast."
Bad uses
- Asking AI to write your essay or SBA and handing it in as your own.
- Copying answers for homework without understanding them.
- Using AI during a test when it is not allowed.
These do not only break rules. They rob you of the skill the work was meant to build. The exam room has no chatbot.
Risky uses
- Trusting AI for facts in History, Social Studies or Science without checking your textbook or teacher. AI makes mistakes and often knows little about Guyana.
- Putting your full name, school, address or photos into AI apps. Keep your personal details private.
What CXC says about AI in SBAs
In May 2026 the Caribbean Examinations Council published a statement on AI in School-Based Assessments (CXC, 11 May 2026). In short:
- AI may be used to understand concepts, brainstorm ideas, explain difficult terms or suggest a structure.
- If you use AI in any way, you must say so: cite it in your SBA and submit the required Disclosure Form and Originality Report.
- If you did not use AI, no Disclosure Form or Originality Report is needed.
- Handing in work wholly or significantly generated by AI is treated as academic dishonesty.
- AI detection software is not the only basis for a decision. CXC said the teacher's knowledge of the student's work, drafts and conversations stays central.
Always read the latest CXC guidance and follow your own school's rules. They can change.
A simple habit: keep your drafts, notes and the prompts you used. If anyone ever asks how you did your work, you can show the journey.
For teachers: three safe time-savers
1. Lesson planning and differentiation
Ask AI for a lesson outline, then adjust it. "Make a 40-minute Grade 4 lesson on fractions using examples from a market stall. Include one activity for students who finish early and one for students who need more help." You know your class. The AI does not. Edit freely.
2. Practice materials
Generate extra practice questions, word lists or reading passages at different levels. Check every answer key yourself. AI answer keys are sometimes wrong.
3. Open Educational Resources (OERs)
AI can help you build handouts and slides you can share. Keep them simple, check facts, and do not paste copyrighted textbook pages into AI tools.
Teachers are already being trained
- In October 2026, Guyana Times reported that 72 primary school teachers in Region Three completed a two-day workshop through the Ministry of Education's NCERD IT Unit on using AI for lesson planning, adapting teaching to student needs and making OERs (Guyana Times, 18 Oct 2026).
- The Ministry of Education reported a two-day robotics and STEM workshop for Grade 4 teachers in Region Seven, Bartica, on 7 and 8 October 2026, aimed at bringing robotics and AI into classroom teaching (Ministry of Education, 15 Oct 2026).
- The Ministry also shared a notice for a CXC online course, "AI Integration for Caribbean Teachers", which ran from 26 August to 18 September 2026 (Ministry of Education notice).
Smart classrooms
Guyana has been adding "smart classrooms" with touchscreen boards and cameras. A World Bank feature in February 2024 described one at Kuru Kururu Primary School, one of ten primary schools that got a smart classroom through the Guyana Education Sector Program, with a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (World Bank, 16 Feb 2024). Smart classrooms are not AI by themselves, but they are the kind of setting where AI tools can be used well.
For girls and young coders
The Industry and Innovation Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister runs "Guyanese Girls Code", which introduces coding, AI and machine learning using no-code tools such as Machine Learning for Kids and Scratch. For 2026, it was designed for girls aged 13 to 15, delivered at secondary schools (OPM Industry and Innovation Unit, 3 Apr 2026).
Going further: studying AI in Guyana
- University of Guyana: offers a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence. Its course list includes Fundamentals of AI, Responsible and Ethical AI, Machine Learning, and electives such as Natural Language Processing and Foundations of Large Language Models (University of Guyana programme page).
- GOAL (Guyana Online Academy of Learning): its 2026 bachelor list includes AI-related programmes from partner universities, such as a BCA in Artificial Intelligence and a BBA in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (GOAL 2026 list). Check GOAL directly for current intakes and rules.
Official links for students and teachers
These are official sites, checked on 24 Oct 2026. Text links only. The full list is on the Government and learning links page.
- Guyana Digital School (Ministry of Education): The Ministry of Education's free online school for Grades 1 to 11, with CSEC-aligned lessons and a digital library, open to Guyanese and Caribbean students. https://digitalschool.moe.edu.gy/
- Guyana Digital School learning platform (student sign-in and registration) (Ministry of Education): Where students register and log in to take Digital School classes. https://learn.digitalschool.moe.edu.gy/
- Ministry of Education (Government of Guyana): Official home of the Ministry of Education: news, notices, school information and teacher resources. https://www.education.gov.gy/
- NCERD (National Centre for Educational Resource Development) contacts (Ministry of Education): Contact details for NCERD, the Ministry's curriculum and resource centre, whose IT Unit runs teacher ICT workshops. NCERD has no separate website that we could find. https://education.gov.gy/en/index.php/moe-contacts/30-ncerd
- Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) (Government of Guyana): Government scholarship programme for online certificates and degrees from partner universities, including some AI-related programmes. https://goal.edu.gy/
- University of Guyana, Department of Computer Science programmes (University of Guyana): List of computer science programmes, including the MSc in Artificial Intelligence. https://uog.edu.gy/srms/departments/7/programmes/
- Guyanese Girls Code (Office of the Prime Minister, Industry and Innovation Unit): The Unit's programme that introduces girls to coding, AI and machine learning using no-code tools. https://innovation.gov.gy/empowering-guyanese-girls-through-code/
Key words
- SBA: School-Based Assessment, coursework marked as part of a CXC exam.
- Academic dishonesty: presenting work that is not your own as if it were.
- OER: Open Educational Resource, teaching material that can be freely shared and reused.
- Differentiation: adapting a lesson for students at different levels.